The linebacker will cooperate and testify before a Manhattan grand jury about how Burress clumsily shot himself in the leg at a nightclub, The Post has learned.

Pierce’s testimony should guarantee an indictment against Super Bowl hero Burress for felony weapon possession – but at the same time, give Pierce a pass on charges of hiding the wide receiver’s .40-caliber Glock pistol after the shooting.

Burress – who has been suspended by the Giants for the rest of the season – could be sent to prison for the mandatory minimum of 3 1/2 years for carrying the unregistered gun.

It was Pierce who drove the wounded Burress to New York-Cornell hospital early Saturday. Then Pierce drove his own SUV, with the unlicensed Glock in the glove compartment, home to Totowa, NJ, sources say.

Burress’ wife, Tiffany, who went to the hospital after the shooting, retrieved the Glock the following day from Pierce’s residence and brought it to the Burress home, also in Totowa, where investigators retrieved it, sources say.

Still to be sorted out is her role in the unfolding story – and its legal implications.

It’s not clear why Tiffany, a lawyer licensed to practice in New York, moved the illegal weapon from one spot to another. She has refused to speak with investigators, sources said.

Those sources added that Pierce, who played in Sunday’s win over the Redskins, didn’t want cops to find the gun in his possession.

Meanwhile, Giants spokesman Pat Hanlon yesterday issued the team’s lengthy timeline of the troubling events. He said Ronnie Barnes, the team’s vice president of medical services, got cellphone calls from Pierce about the accidental shooting, asking Barnes which hospital Burress should be taken to.

Barnes told them which hospital to go to.

Hanlon said Mark Drakos, the affiliated Hospital for Special Surgery orthopedic fellow on call that night, was then paged by the on-call orthopedic resident at New York-Cornell, who told him Burress was admitted to the ER.

Hanlon said Drakos also provides “support for the medical care provided the Giants.”

“En route to the hospital, Drakos called Ronnie to make certain he was aware of the situation,” Hanlon said.

Drakos examined Burress, but “did not have any interaction with the emergency-room physician,” Hanlon said.

“When Ronnie arrived at the hospital, he asked to see Plaxico, by name, and was taken to the room in which he was being treated,” Hanlon said.

“Ronnie sat outside to await information. He later learned that Plaxico had been issued a hospital ID bracelet with an alias. Neither Ronnie nor the Giants had any involvement with Plaxico being admitted under a false name.”

Sources told the Post that Burress never gave a false name, adding to the mystery of who did.

Hanlon said that Barnes had only a brief encounter with emergency room Dr. Josyann Abisaab. He added that Barnes was not in the room when she was treating Burress and that the Giants “have not had any relationship with Dr. Abisaab.”

Also yesterday, several sources contradicted claims by law-enforcement sources that Abisaab – who has been suspended by New York-Cornell in connection with the case – was summoned in the middle of the night to treat Burress’ gunshot wound. Sources said that when Burress arrived at the hospital, Abisaab, 44, was working a regularly scheduled shift, as she routinely does.

“This notion that she was parachuted in just for [Burress] . . . is false,” a source said.

Another source said Abisaab spent only about 15 minutes attending to Burress, who then spent 11 hours in the hospital.

A lawyer for Abisaab declined to comment. The hospital has come under sharp criticism for failing to notify authorities about a gunshot wound, as legally required.

Pierce’s interview with the DA will happen “in the next few days,” according to his lawyer, Michael Bachner. “My plan is to abide by the requests of the DA.

“If the DA’s office requests that Mr. Pierce testify before the grand jury, he will do so,” Bachner said. The lawyer said that under state law, testimony Pierce gives to the grand jury is automatically “immunized” – meaning that what he says couldn’t be used against him should he be charged with a crime.

“Our position is he [didn’t] break any laws,” Bachner said. “We’re hopeful the DA’s office will come to the same conclusion.”

Pierce was at the Latin Quarter club on Lexington Avenue during the incident early Saturday morning with fellow Giants Burress and Ahmad Bradshaw. Sources told The Post yesterday that Jessie Armstead, a former Giants linebacker and current special assistant and consultant for the team, was also there and was interviewed by cops yesterday.